Viacom Freelancers Continue to Protest Despite Love From Above

Exactly seven minutes before their scheduled 3 p.m. protest today, Viacom freelancers received a memo from HR’s JoAnne Griffith saying that the company had decided to let them keep their old health-care plans (although the controversial Aetna plan “has certain advantages that may make it the preferred option for many of our freelance and temporary employees,” the memo said — as if!). When the e-mail arrived, “there was a palpable sense of relief,” said one freelancer, “however, we are still missing several key items that we had before,” including the company’s contributions to their 401(k) and paid holidays. So it was back out to Times Square and chanting, and someone even started a blog for True Life stories of Viacom freelancers, such as this one, titled “Engaged andUnderpaid”:

“My girlfriend and I recently got engaged and set a date for the fall ‘08 for our wedding, but [getting on her health-care plan] will cost us a huge chunk of what we had been saving for our wedding. So much for getting married in ’08. THANKSVIACOM!”

Another protest is planned for tomorrow, where the Viacom freelancers will be joined by members of the Writers Guild East, who are on full-time, as opposed to teatime,strike.